Printed products are typically spread out by rotary machines or from corresponding buffer or intermediate stores, such as in rolls, in scale flow form. For subsequent processing and conveying stages it is advantageous to convey on such scale flows in some other form, e.g. as a feed or delivery flow, in which each printed product or a given number of printed products is conveyed by a gripper with a pulling member moving a plurality of such grippers. Thus, from a free formation in which the individual products are not kept in a relative position to one another, a forced formation is formed, in which the reciprocal relative position of the printed products is rigidly defined by the gripper or similar conveying tools. For the transformation of the scale flow into a feed flow with grippers the scale flow is guided on a supply belt conveyor into a corresponding takeover or acceptance area, in which the printed products are engaged by the grippers.
Apparatus for such an acceptance and conveying away are known, e.g. from Swiss patent 630583, to which the U.S. counterpart is 4,320,894, and European patent 330868, to which the U.S. counterpart is 4,953,847. These specifications describe methods and apparatuses with which a scale flow, such as is e.g. spread out by a rotary machine, is converted into a feed flow with grippers moved on a pulling member, whereof each conveys one or more products of the scale flow. Conventionally in the supply scale flows the printed products are arranged in such a way that each product is partly covered by the follow-up or following product or products, i.e. the leading edges of the printed products in the delivery direction rest on the top of the scale flow. So as to ensure that during takeover the products do not have to be advanced under one or more following products, the aforementioned methods preferably prescribe, prior to the actual acceptance, a deflection of the scale flow by approximately 180.degree. in the upwards or downwards direction, so that each product of the scale flow rests on the following product or products and consequently the leading edges of the printed products in the delivery direction rest on the contact side (underside) of the scale flow. However, the aforementioned specifications also describe embodiments, which are used for the conveying away of scale flows with the leading edges at the top.
Non-uniformities in the spacings of the printed products of a scale flow can, in the case of the aforementioned apparatus, lead to damage to the printed products, e.g. due to the grippers, so that it is advantageous to render uniform or correct during acceptance or takeover not only the lateral orientation of the printed products, but also their spacings in the conveying direction prior to the actual acceptance. Thus, for example, Swiss patent 630583 describes means with which products delivered with an inadequate spacing are stopped immediately prior to acceptance and are consequently correctly timed, whereas products supplied with too large a spacing are transferred to the next following gripper. This makes it possible to prevent damage and account can be taken of errors in the following delivery flow.
In the case where more than one printed product is engaged and conveyed away by a single gripper, the aforementioned specifications describe two variants. Either the printed products are oriented at a stop (CH 630583), so that their leading edges rest on one another when they are finally taken up by a gripper, or they maintain their reciprocal spacing from the scale flow (EP 330868), so that at any time and without auxiliary means they can be spread out again in the same scale flow.
It has been found that the above-described apparatus are complicated and take up too much space. This more particularly applies if the position of the printed products in the grippers or the relative position of several printed products grasped by a gripper must be accurate within said gripper and if, prior to the actual takeover, it is necessary to provide a separate device for rendering uniform the spacings of the printed products in the scale flow. It would also be desirable if a corresponding apparatus could be easily adapted to different requirements in order to bring about maximum and optimum utilization.